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Walt Disney Studios/Marvel
There are a lot of people in Hollywood who are considered sci-fi icons – George Takei, Harrison Ford, Lynda Carter – but when it comes to current sci-fi and superhero blockbusters, there’s one woman who reigns above them all: Zoe Saldana. Friday’s Guardians of the Galaxy will mark her third starring role in a major sci-fi franchise, and she’s effortlessly made the jump from one iconic character to another, earning fans and rave reviews every time. But when you think Star Trek or Avatar or even Guardians of the Galaxy, her face likely isn’t the first one that pops into your head. For some reason, Saldana hasn’t quite been able to make the jump from blockbusters to international superstar.
Major superhero and sci-fi blockbusters have a history of turning unknown or underrated actors into A-list stars. Henry Cavill was just “that guy from that thing” before he became Superman. Tom Hiddleston went from a theater darling to making women everywhere scream their heads off thanks to The Avengers. Even Sam Worthington was omnipresent for a solid year or so after Avatar was released. And yet Saldana is still best known as the “blue girl from Avatar” or “the one woman in the new Star Trek films” despite having three times as many franchises under her belt. It could be argued that Cavill and Hiddleston have a background in more prestigious projects, which has helped them become more recognizable. But Saldana also has plenty of impressive films under her belt, including collaborations with directors like Steven Spielberg, Neil LaBute, and Guillame Canet. She’s even starring in a biopic about Nina Simone, which is the kind of cinematic catnip that neither the Oscars nor audiences can resist.
What, then, is keeping Saldana from enjoying the kind of fame that other franchise stars have? Do audiences have trouble recognizing her thanks to the various CGI and full-bodied makeups that have turned her blue, green, and everything in between? Is it because she’s a member of an ensemble cast in Star Trek and Guardians of the Galaxy, the two films where her face hasn’t been digitally altered? Is it just because she’s not playing the sullen, broody one with daddy issues?
It’s certainly not due to lack of talent, as Saldana has always given compelling, complex performances, even in her smallest roles – remember Crossroads? She was by far the best thing about that movie – and often chooses characters that are tough and complicated. Neytiri and Uhura are interesting, strong, sometimes difficult women with a great deal of depth to them. However, despite the attention all of those characters have gotten, it still pales in comparison to the fan bases that their male counterparts have received, which has likely contributed to the smaller nature of Saldana’s general fan base.
Still, it’s likely that Gamora could be the key to launching Saldana into superstardom, or, at the very least, to being more than just “the blue one.” Though both Star Trek and Avatar were incredibly successful, Marvel’s films are currently the biggest, most attention-grabbing franchises in theaters thanks to the resurgence of superhero films and the excitement surrounding them. She’s already getting more attention and press for Gamora than she did for Neytiri or Uhura, which is probably due to the fact that Gamora is a more prominent lead than the other two. Yes, Neytiri is the only Na’vi anyone can name, but Saldana herself was overshadowed by more familiar names like Sigourney Weaver and Michelle Rodriguez. The biggest name in the Guardians cast, by contrast, is Bradley Cooper, who is only doing voiceover work in the film.
The fact that she’s already starred in two other major franchises should also help Gamora become Saldana’s biggest role yet. She’s already familiar to causal moviegoers, even if they still can’t quite place her name. She’s also established herself as a fashion darling, which means that she’s likely to have graced the cover of many high-selling magazines, which is another important step towards helping her move onto the A-list. And since everyone loves a celebrity baby, she’s likely to get even more press over the course of the next few months, which will help keep her in the public’s consciousness.
Her upcoming film Nina could also be a major factor. Saldana’s always been able to balance action-heavy blockbusters with serious, quiet dramas, but she’s yet to properly breakthrough in the latter. A biopic of a major icon could be exactly the kind of films she needs to gain some awards attention, and all of the promotion that Oscar season entails would definitely encourage more people to pay attention to her. However, thus far, the film has been plagued by filming delays on controversy, so if the final product isn’t exceptional, it might do more harm than good.
Of course, if Guardians of the Galaxy does even half as well as some of its predecessors in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it might just be enough to balance out any possible mis-steps, and ensure that Saldana finally gets the kind of attention that she deserves. After all, Scarlett Johansson can't play every female superhero out there.
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Actress Salma Hayek and Hollywood hardmen Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone turned the spotlight on the plight of the kidnapped Nigerian schoolchildren at the Cannes International Film Festival this weekend (17-18May14), by holding up signs demanding action to "bring back our girls". Last month (Apr14), more than 250 teenagers were snatched from a school in northern Nigeria by members of the Islamist militant group Boko Haram, and a host of public figures have since backed an online campaign calling for international help in finding the abducted girls and freeing them before the religious extremists can sell the youths into slavery.
Hayek took the Twitter.com campaign to Cannes on Saturday (17May14) as she attended the premiere of her new animated film The Prophet, and she made sure all eyes were on her as she brandished a sign with the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls while she posed for the cameras.
Hayek didn't appear to have run her political stunt by festival organisers prior to Saturday's event as Marie-Pierre Hauville, director of communications for Cannes, branded her actions "most unusual", but that didn't stop the cast of Stallone's The Expendables 3 from following in the actress' footsteps as they hit the red carpet at the French bash on Sunday (18May14).
Stallone and Schwarzenegger were joined by their movie co-stars Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford, Jason Statham and Wesley Snipes, as they each held up similar signs to draw attention to the headline-grabbing kidnapping.
Other famous faces who have also spoken out in support of the #BringBackOurGirls campaign include U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Anne Hathaway and Angelina Jolie.

Paramount Pictures
There are certain kisses, oftentimes finding home at the end of a movie, that make you feel all warm and gooey inside… until a couple of hours later, when you're looking back at what you saw, and a little voice in your head says, "Wait a minute…"
We're taking a look at the most memorable kisses in film from the '80s on, including the Best Kisses and the Worst Kisses. These, however, are the kisses that make us ask the question: romantic or creepy?
Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze, Ghost
Poor Molly. She's lost her soul mate Sam and has a medium (Whoopi Goldberg) bringing her messages from him from beyond the grave. She's even gotten to share a kiss with Sam as he inhabits Whoopi's body. Then, his spirit finally at ease after righting the wrong that led to his death, a ghostly Sam appears and tenderly kisses her before going towards the light. Did you cry? Ditto.
Only… He's a freakin' ghost! There is a ghost right there, right in the room with you… transparent and bathed in some weird glowing light! Give Molly credit, because no matter whom it's the spirit of, when a ghost shows up most people run the other way.
Keira Knightley and Andrew Lincoln, Love Actually
Lincoln's Mark arrives at the home of his best friend (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and his new bride, Knightley, who answers the door. Mark has her pretend that he's actually a Christmas caroler, quietly holding up cue cards to profess his love for her. Having gotten it out in the open, Mark takes his cards and walks away, down an empty London street. His unrequited love chases him down and gives him a sweet kiss before returning to her happy home, showing him that love is never wasted.
Only… For starters, she's married. To his best friend! Even if your best friend's wife is the insanely beautiful Knightley, you don't profess your love to her. And, if you're her, you don't go around kissing your husband's friends. Even in Britain we're pretty sure that's a rule.
Melanie Lynskey and Christopher Abbott, Hello I Must Be Going
Lynskey's Amy is going through a rough patch. She's getting divorced and is forced to move back in with her parents. Lucky for her, one of her father's business associates has a gorgeous young son, who, at a dinner party, follows her from the room and plants a passionate kiss on her. The love affair that follows awakens her soul and helps her rediscover life.
Only…Okay, so Abbott's Jeremy is legal, but just barely (he's 19). On the one hand, it's true that we've seen male characters on the older end of many a cinematic May-December romance, but we usually like the girl to be out of her teens once the story starts! Otherwise we get a little creeped out. It's no different just because it's Lynskey doing the canoodling.
Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, Dirty Dancing
Swayze makes his second appearance on the list when his Johnny pours out his heart to Grey's Baby as she's trying to learn how to dance to help him and his partner out of a jam. He's misunderstood and she doesn't know what it's like to have married women that expect him to service them. The kiss itself is brief, but it comes as part of a larger dancing mating ritual that's as sexy as all get out.
Only… Wait, how old is Johnny? More importantly, how old is Baby? Even if it's legal, he's kind of taking some liberties with a guest at the resort he's working at… which is a touch skeevy. Plus, no matter how dreamy Swayze is, he kind of admitted to being a little bit of a gigolo.
Sarah Michelle Gellar and Selma Blair, Cruel Intentions
Gellar's privileged and bored Kathryn is lounging in the park with fellow young socialite, Cecile (Blair). The naïve Cecile confides that she's worried about kissing a boy, since she's never even been "to first base." Gellar, charged with helping to guide the younger girl, offers to give her a lesson on the art of the kiss. She shows her the proper way to touch lips before upping the ante and demonstrating how the tongue comes into play. As she pulls away from Cecile's first French kiss, Kathryn states simply, "That's first base." Teen boys everywhere wore out their family's first DVD player skipping back to the scene.
Only…Kathryn is every bit as bad as the French aristocrat from Dangerous Liaisons on which she's based. She's coldly manipulative and is really just using Cecile to get revenge on her ex-boyfriend and repeatedly tries to get her step-brother (Ryan Phillippe) to seduce her. Hot or not, there's got to be a better way for a girl to learn how to kiss.
Harrison Ford and Kelly McGillis, Witness
Ford's hard-boiled detective is forced into hiding in a Pennsylvania Amish community as he tries to protect McGillis' young son (Lukas Haas) who has witnessed a murder. As Ford recovers from a gunshot wound, he gradually falls for McGillis' fair maid… whom he catches taking one of the sexiest sponge baths in any movie. Fully clothed, they share a moment dancing to Sam Cooke. Finally, they share an embrace that cuts across cultural differences.
Only…We're not saying that back in 1985 plenty of women wouldn't have risked being shunned by their entire community to swap spit with Ford, but this woman is casting aside everything she and her family have always believed in for some cop from Philly. Goodbye, old friends...
Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo, 13 Going on 30
13-year-old Jenna (played by Christa Allen) goes into a closet during her birthday party and emerges as a 30-year-old working at a fashion magazine (Garner). She realizes quickly that she's not the person that she thought she would be. Worse yet, she alienated her best friend Matt (Ruffalo) somewhere along the way. Just as he's about to marry someone else, Jenna is back to being 13 and launches herself at young Matt (played by Sean Marquette). The two rush up a set of stairs and emerge at their own wedding as Ruffalo takes a selfie of him kissing Garner, his blushing bride. It's so sweet dentists recommend brushing your teeth after viewing.
Only…Okay, so body-switching, time traveling movies always have some logistical problems. In this case, if 13-year-old Jenna made her feelings known to Matt, when exactly is this wedding taking place? Because it looks an awful lot like the one that 30-year-old Matt was about to have with his now non-existent fiancée. That's an awful lot of dating — or procrastinating — for a couple that's made for each other.
Emile Hirsch and Elisha Cuthbert, The Girl Next Door
Hirsch's Matthew spies his new neighbor getting changed and as luck would have it, it's Cuthbert, at the height of her teen dream-ness after wowing TV audiences as Jack Bauer's daughter on 24. She tells on him to his parents and, of course, they suggest that as punishment he spend more time with the new hottie. He takes her to a party where every jock in the place tries to get his swerve on with her. Fed up, Matthew walks up to her and kisses her. Far from being offended, she returns the embrace.
Only…Let's start with the fact that Matthew doesn't know that Cuthbert's character is a former porn actress until after he's already in love with her. Even if she really has a heart of gold, honesty is still the best policy.
Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis, Ted
Wahlberg's John and Kunis' Lori have been dating for four years, only John isn't that much of a grown-up and pals around with one of his childhood toys, a talking stuffed animal named Ted, who has a thing for just about any vice that you can think of. John is given an ultimatum by Lori: me or the bear. As often happens, things work themselves out. John and Lori seal their "new" relationship with a kiss as Ted watches from the sofa.
Only…His roommate is a talking teddy bear, for goodness sake! That doesn't raise enough red flags for you to walk away from the relationship? We get that Marky Mark has a crazy good body, but come on. Don't come crying to us the first time that Ted shows up at a dinner party with a hooker.
Paul Rudd &amp; Alicia Silverstone, Clueless
Silverstone's Cher is so busy trying to fix everyone else's life that she doesn't even see what's in front of her in this modern retelling of Jane Austen's Emma. Rudd's Josh, the son of one of her father's ex-wives, is an earnest college student who still lives with them part-time as he helps out at his step-dad's law office. Cher finally realizes that it's been Josh all along that has been there for her. The two share a tender kiss before officially becoming boyfriend-girlfriend.
Only… He's her step-brother! Sure, the marriage is over, but he certainly seems to think he's part of the family. Even in Beverly Hills, making out with your step sibling is frowned upon. As with some of the other ones on this list, there's also the nagging problem that even though the age difference may not be that great, she's only 16 and he's well into his college years. As if.
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DreamWorks
For the bulk of every Rocky and Bullwinkle episode, moose and squirrel would engage in high concept escapades that satirized geopolitics, contemporary cinema, and the very fabrics of the human condition. With all of that to work with, there's no excuse for why the pair and their Soviet nemeses haven't gotten a decent movie adaptation. But the ingenious Mr. Peabody and his faithful boy Sherman are another story, intercut between Rocky and Bullwinkle segments to teach kids brief history lessons and toss in a nearly lethal dose of puns. Their stories and relationship were much simpler, which means that bringing their shtick to the big screen would entail a lot more invention — always risky when you're dealing with precious material.
For the most part, Mr. Peabody &amp; Sherman handles the regeneration of its heroes aptly, allowing for emotionally substance in their unique father-son relationship and all the difficulties inherent therein. The story is no subtle metaphor for the difficulties surrounding gay adoption, with society decreeing that a dog, no matter how hyper-intelligent, cannot be a suitable father. The central plot has Peabody hosting a party for a disapproving child services agent and the parents of a young girl with whom 7-year-old Sherman had a schoolyard spat, all in order to prove himself a suitable dad. Of course, the WABAC comes into play when the tots take it for a spin, forcing Peabody to rush to their rescue.
Getting down to personals, we also see the left brain-heavy Peabody struggle with being father Sherman deserves. The bulk of the emotional marks are hit as we learn just how much Peabody cares for Sherman, and just how hard it has been to accept that his only family is growing up and changing.
DreamWorks
But more successful than the new is the film's handling of the old — the material that Peabody and Sherman purists will adore. They travel back in time via the WABAC Machine to Ancient Egypt, the Renaissance, and the Trojan War, and 18th Century France, explaining the cultural backdrop and historical significance of the settings and characters they happen upon, all with that irreverent (but no longer racist) flare that the old cartoons enjoyed. And oh... the puns.
Mr. Peabody &amp; Sherman is a f**king treasure trove of some of the most amazingly bad puns in recent cinema. This effort alone will leave you in awe.
The film does unravel in its final act, bringing the science-fiction of time travel a little too close to the forefront and dropping the ball on a good deal of its emotional groundwork. What seemed to be substantial building blocks do not pay off in the way we might, as scholars of animated family cinema, have anticipated, leaving the movie with an unfinished feeling.
But all in all, it's a bright, compassionate, reasonably educational, and occasionally funny if not altogether worthy tribute to an old favorite. And since we don't have our own WABAC machine to return to a time of regularly scheduled Peabody and Sherman cartoons, this will do okay for now.
If nothing else, it's worth your time for the puns.
3/5
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Universal Pictures via Everett Collection
Seventeen years ago, Harrison Ford grumbled four simple words that defined a genre, a demographic, and a country: "Get off my plane." In a pre-9/11 world, there was no shortage of jingoistic glee in a movie like Air Force One, in which a man's man American president doled out justice to a militia of Russian loyalist terrorists who made the silly mistake of attempting to hijack his flight home from Moscow. In 2014, we don't have the luxury of facing a plotline like this with reckless merriment. There's a damp gravity to the premise behind movies like Non-Stop, which in another time would have been nothing more than Taken on a Plane. But rigidly conscious of the connotations that attach to a story about a hijacking of a civilian international flight into John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City, Non-Stop doesn't play too fast and loose. It still plays, and has some good fun doing so, but carefully.
From the getgo, we're anchored into the grim narrative of Liam Neeson's U.S. Air Marshall Bill Marks, who settles his demons with a healthy spoonful of whiskey. A dutiful officer even when liquored up, Marks eyeballs every nameless face in London's Heathrow Airport, silently introducing the bevvy of characters who'll come into play later on. After takeoff, Marks finds himself on the unwitting prowl for the anonymous party who's attempting to take down the red-eye through a series of manipulative text messages, well-timed threats, and clandestine killings. Chatty passenger Julianne Moore and flight attendant Michelle Dockery join Marks in his efforts to identify the mysterious criminal before the entire aircraft falls to his or her whims. So less Taken, more Murder, She Wrote.
Universal Pictures
Our roundup of suspects challenges our (and their) preconceived notions, and quite laughably — most vocal among Neeson's fellow passengers are a white beta-male school teacher (Scoot McNairy), a black computer engineer with an attitude of entitlement (Nate Parker), a softspoken Middle Eastern surgeon whose headwear gets more than a few focal shots (Omar Metwally), a middle-aged white businessman whose latest account landed him more than your house is worth (Frank Deal), an irate black youngster draped in irreverence (Corey Hawkins), and a white, bald, machismo-howling New York cop who secretly accepts his gay brother (Corey Stoll). Just a few talking heads short of Do the Right Thing, Non-Stop manages to goof on each man's (notice that they're all men — Moore, Dockery, and a barely-in-the-movie Lupita Nyong’o are kept shy of the action for most of the film) distaste for and distrust of one another as they each try to sidle up to, or undermine the harried Marks.
Non-Stop plays an interesting game with its characters and its audience, simultaneously painting the ignorance of its characters with a thick coat of comedy while pointing its finger straight out at us with accusations that we, too, thought it was whoever we just learned it wasn't, and for all the wrong reasons. "Shame on you!" Non-Stop chides, adding, "But let's keep going, this is fun!"
It is fun — that's the miraculous thing. Without any "Get off my plane"s or "Yippee ki yay"s, Non-Stop keeps its action genre silliness in check (okay, there is a moment involving an airborne gun that'll institute some serious laugh-cheers), investing all of its good time in the game of claustrophobic Clue that we can't help but enjoy. It sacrifices some of its charm in a heavy-handed third act, tipping to one side of what was a pretty impressive balancing act up until that point. But its falter is not one that drags down the movie entirely. Fun and excitement are restored, sincerity is maintained, and even a few moments of sensitivity creep their way through. We might not live in a world of President Harrison Fords any longer, but Air Marshall Liam Neesons could actually be a step up.
3.5/5
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Robert De Niro cut his teeth on the mobster genre, earning just about every accolade he has received to date for his tenure under the direction of crime-obsessed Martin Scorsese. Although Silver Linings Playbook was an enthusiastic reminder of the actor's capabilities, De Niro's recent turns in the family comedy spectrum have been less than impressive. Luckily, rumors have amounted that he and Scorsese are back in talks for some new projects... but he can't just jump right back into the pools of gangsterdom. He'll need to ease his way back in, just as he eased his way out: with a crime-themed comedy. Just as Analyze This took De Niro from one genre to the next, The Family might take him right back again. We hope.
Above is the first trailer for the flick, which stars De Niro as the patriarch of a family in Witness Protection after extensive interraction with the mob. His anger-prone, debauchery-inclined family includes wife Michelle Pfeiffer, daughter Dianna Agron, and son John D'Leo... none of whom find it easy to assimilate to French living. Oh yeah, they're in France. And Tommy Lee Jones is there.
The Family might not be De Niro's route back to his old trasngressive glory. But at least it looks to have a bit more edge than Little Fockers. Preserve hope, De Nirians!
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Little Laura Ingalls is all grown up. In fact, the actress who played Laura, Melissa Gilbert, just got married for the third time! Gilbert, 48, wed thirtysomething star Timothy Busfield, 55, "in a private ceremony at San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara on April 24," the star's rep tells Hollywood.com.
Gilbert, who first rose to fame as a child star on Little House on the Prairie recently re-entered the spotlight when she competed on Dancing with the Stars. And Gilbert's new husband, Busfield, is also a fellow actor. He starred in the hit TV series thirtysomething and The West Wing and also has two movies — Nightcomer and 23 Blast — set to come out this year.
They say the third time is a charm, which must be the mindset of Gilbert and Busfield (who got engaged in 2012) as both have been previously married twice. And since they are both talented TV actors, they should maybe think about coming out with a modern version of The Brady Bunch. Gilbert has two children and Busfield has three, so they are practically on track to cast a similar sitcom. Now that would be a show worth watching!
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We may be a decade and change out of the golden era of Robin Williams, but the memories remain crystal clear. There was a time that the fast-talking, follicle-ridden funnyman was Hollywood's reigning champion in the realm of broad, wacky comedy.
Yes, this is the Robin Williams many of us remember best: the constantly quipping goofball who'd bounce around a room in a dress in Mrs. Doubtfire, a robot suit in Bicentennial Man, or in animated form as an all-powerful genie in Aladdin, managing celebrity impressions and absurd wordplay all the while. But for some, Williams meant something softer — a father striving desperately to recapture his youth and connect with his son in Hook. A therapist aching to break through the shield of a detached young genius in Good Will Hunting. The man has shown off his dramatic chops too, proving that we have a pretty substantial arsenal from which to choose when considering our favorite Robin Williams movies.
And quite the variety did amount when our staff members chimed with their picks. Williams' appearance in the forthcoming dramedy The Big Wedding had all us all thinking back upon our favorite of his historic turns...
Abbey Stone: Mrs. DoubtfireMatt Patches: AladdinAly Semigran: Good Will HuntingAnna Brand and Kate Ward: JumanjiKelsea Stahler: HookLindsey DiMattina: The BirdcageMichael Arbeiter: PopeyeBrian Moylan: Ferngully: The Last RainforestChristian Blauvelt: Hamlet
What is your favorite Robin Williams movie role?
Take our poll below. Explain your choice or defend a movie that isn't on the list in the comments below!
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50 years ago, on March 22, 1963, The Beatles released their first album, Please Please Me, kicking off arguably the greatest recording career in rock &amp; roll history. In just seven years, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr released over 200 songs, covering every genre and style you could possibly imagine. Their creative and intellectual growth during this time seems so accelerated that it's almost superhuman. If you played every one of their songs in one epic marathon listening session, it'd only take about 11 hours to hear everything they ever put on vinyl. But of those recordings, The Beatles musical batting average is unparalleled. That's why, on the occasion of Please Please Me's 50th anniversary, we've put together a ranked list of their 50 greatest songs. For how many other bands could you even attempt such a thing, let alone have affection for every single song on the list? Here are our picks.
50. “Octopus’ Garden,” Abbey Road (1969) Ringo Starr’s second songwriting venture for The Beatles, after The White Album’s country barnburner “Don’t Pass Me By,” is a briny odyssey to the bottom of the sea — complete with bubble sound effects! — that’s like an even trippier follow-up to “Yellow Submarine.” (500) Days of Summer fans will remember that Zooey Deschanel’s title character considered this her favorite Beatles song. We like it too, but we also think the Fab Four recorded 49 better ones.
49. “One After 909,” Let It Be (1970) Appearing on the group’s last LP, Lennon and McCartney’s rockabilly ode to boxcar travel feels like something that could have been originally recorded by Chuck Berry or Carl Perkins. That’s because it was among the very first songs the duo ever wrote, going as far back as 1957, when the Liverpool lads were in their teens and rock &amp; roll was in its infancy.
48. “Money (That’s What I Want),” With The Beatles (1963) Because they produced such a vast repertoire of original material, sometimes the Beatles don’t get enough credit for their covers. Their take on the first hit ever released by Motown (and co-written by Motown founder Berry Gordy) is a blues’d-out celebration of materialism with a snaking honky-tonk piano: the perfect mission statement for four working class lads trying to make it.
47. “I Saw Her Standing There,” Please Please Me (1963) The Beatles’ first album was basically just a recording of the live act they’d play at nightclubs in Germany and the U.K. in the early ‘60s. Of all their early work, “I Saw Her Standing There,” the best Jerry Lee Lewis record Jerry Lee Lewis never made, is the most lustful of the bunch: “She was just seventeen / You know what I mean…”
46. “Yesterday,” Help! (1965) Not Paul McCartney’s first art-song experiment nor his best, “Yesterday” is unique in being pretty much his solo project. None of the other Beatles recorded with him on the track and most of the instrumentals are supplied by a symphonic string section.
45. “Eleanor Rigby,” Revolver (1966) McCartney kept the strings from “Yesterday,” only he had them drive the melody and play far more aggressively on his character study of loneliness and heartbreak. At that point “Eleanor Rigby” was among the most daring efforts of The Beatles in writing a non-love song.
44. “Tomorrow Never Knows,” Revolver (1966) Lennon saw McCartney’s challenge on “Eleanor Rigby” and raised him “Tomorrow Never Knows,” a lysergic reverie inspired by The Tibetan Book of the Dead, featuring tape loops and recordings played backward, including Macca’s spiky guitar riff on ‘Taxman.” No wonder Don Draper hated it.
43. “The Fool on the Hill,” Magical Mystery Tour (1967) Bristling at some of the negative press the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was receiving at the time, McCartney wrote this dreamy ode to faith, and the subtle divide between wisdom and idiocy. But let’s face it. It’s the flute solo that makes “The Fool on the Hill.”
42. “Nowhere Man,” Rubber Soul (1965) Even better than “Eleanor Rigby” as a non-love song about feeling unmoored and lonely, “Nowhere Man” was semi-autobiographical for Lennon, whose first marriage was foundering due to the Beatles’ incessant tour schedule. But even if it’s about discord, the foursome’s vocal harmonies were rarely better.
41. “Don’t Let Me Down,” Standalone Single (1969) Lennon wrote “Don’t Let Me Down” as a plea to Yoko Ono. Despite its incessant, chant-like recitation of the title — hinting at the primal scream soundscapes of John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band — it’s Lennon at his absolute most vulnerable.
NEXT: 40-31, including the song that caused The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson to lose his mind
40. “Think For Yourself,” Rubber Soul (1965) George Harrison’s first great song owes more than a little to The Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” especially the fuzzbox reverberation added to McCartney’s scorching bassline.
39. “Here, There, and Everywhere,” Revolver (1966) McCartney brought a lullaby sweetness to Revolver, especially on “For No One” and “Here, There, and Everwhere.” The latter must feature the most beautiful Beatles harmonies ever. Despite having had virtually no relationship with McCartney for years, and having strongly criticized much of his former songwriting partner’s other work, Lennon told Playboy in 1980 that he still considered “Here, There, and Everywhere” among the Beatles’ very finest achievements.
38. “Rocky Raccoon,” The White Album (1968) A folk-rock ballad about an Old West love triangle, complete with tinny saloon piano, “Rocky Raccoon” was actually written by Paul McCartney in India, during the Beatles’ stay at Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s spiritual retreat. Maybe the longing for the West implied in the song explains why McCartney left the Maharishi after only two weeks.
37. “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” Standalone Single (1963) They were the hand-claps heard 'round the world. Released a week to the day after JFK’s assassination, “I Want to Hold Your Hand” was — and is — a celebration of life, innocence and discovery capable of holding the darkness at bay. Its decidedly juvenile, bubblegum tone was, however, mocked in Thomas Pynchon’s The Crying of Lot 49 when a shallow rock band called The Paranoids record the song “I Want To Kiss Your Feet.”
36. “Yellow Submarine,” Revolver (1966) A frothy, foamy novelty to be sure, but “Yellow Submarine” shows how willing the Beatles were to experiment with studio artistry after years of numbing world tours. Though great for a singalong, “Yellow Submarine” would mean very little performed live since so much of its narrative depends on studio-derived sound effects and vocal manipulation. The song itself was basically a mini-movie for the ears well before Apple Records decided to make a movie of “Yellow Submarine” for real.
35. “Don’t Pass Me By,” The White Album (1968) Ringo Starr’s first solo composition is arguably one of the best country songs of the ‘60s, a toe-tappin’, linedance-ready extravaganza that’d fit in at the Grand Ol’ Opry.
34. “Norwegian Wood,” Rubber Soul (1965) George Harrison first fired up his sitar for John Lennon’s existential love song, beginning a lifelong love affair with the instrument that would result in him partnering with Ravi Shankar and exploring the subtleties of Indian mysticism. Lennon achieved a new level of songwriting, with lyrics to “Norwegian Wood” of stunning poetic depth and emotional maturity, like “I once had a girl / Or should I say, she once had me?”
33. “Strawberry Fields Forever,” Magical Mystery Tour (1967) The Beatles’ psychedelic period kicked off with a bang in February 1967, with the release of “Strawberry Fields Forever” as a standalone single paired with McCartney’s “Penny Lane.” Both songs reflect nostalgia on the part of their makers for their early, pre-fame days in Liverpool, but of the two it’s “Strawberry Fields Forever” that really sticks with you. It kicked off the Beatles’ habit of including sonic Easter Eggs in their recordings—just when you think it’s ended, it starts up again! It was so good that it unhinged Lennon’s greatest rival across the pond, Brian Wilson, who, after hearing “Strawberry Fields Forever,” declared that the Beatles “had gotten there first” and subsequently abandoned The Beach Boys' magnum opus SMiLE for almost 40 years.
32. “Girl,” Rubber Soul (1965) You know a song is good when its makers fight about who wrote what in it. McCartney has taken credit for writing lines in “Girl” like "Was she told when she was young that pain would lead to pleasure" and "That a man must break his back to earn his day of leisure." But Lennon also said that he wrote those lines as a critique of Christian doctrine. With guitars played like ukuleles and mandolins, giving the track more than a whiff of a Greek folk dance, “Girl” is so good, who cares who wrote what?
31. “Ticket to Ride,” Help! (1965) A great transitional song that combines the Beatles’ taut pop focus with hints at the philosophical musings to come, “Ticket to Ride” is the single best track on Help! It was also famously covered by The Carpenters, who lent it extra shades of pre-Goth melancholy.
NEXT: 30-21, John Lennon visits the stars, Paul McCartney invents heavy metal
30. “If I Needed Someone,” Rubber Soul (1965) A guitar jam, an exercise in multi-part harmonies, and a kind of individualistic statement by its author, George Harrison, “If I Needed Someone” is the opposite of “Nowhere Man” and “Eleanor Rigby.” Where Lennon and McCartney elaborated on loneliness and the need for human connection, Harrison, already something of a mystic, argues for the completeness of the self.
29. “You Really Got a Hold On Me,” With the Beatles (1963) John Lennon contorts his vocal cords like never before — or after — with his take on Smokey Robinson’s R&amp;B ballad, hitting falsetto notes and nailing runs with agonizing emotion.
28. “Hey Jude,” Standalone Single (1968) It’s funny that the Beatles had stopped touring by the time “Hey Jude” was released, because the seven minute epic pretty much invented the concept of arena rock. It’s a song of such, um, singability — especially when it comes to those na-na-na-nahs — that you need to be in a stadium with thousands of others singing along to appreciate it best. Hence why it’s Paul McCartney’s go-to jam for any and all live performances he may give.
27. “Hello, Goodbye,” Magical Mystery Tour (1967) A song of such binary simplicity — “You say ‘yes,’ I say ‘no’ / You say ‘stop,’ and I say ‘go, go, go!’” — that it could have been written directly for Sesame Street. Which is exactly why it’s so great.
26. “Dig a Pony,” Let It Be (1970) Lennon called this bluesy exploration of his lust for Yoko Ono “a piece of garbage.” It’s fierce and hormonal, full of burnt-out longing and an unsettling urge toward instant gratification.
25. “With a Little Help From My Friends,” Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) Billy Shears (Ringo Starr’s Sgt. Pepper alter ego) lends his melancholy pipes to what is either the saddest song about friendship ever written or the most joyful celebration of co-dependency. The song is somehow all vulnerability — and all bravado — right from the opening line: “What would you do if I sang out of tune / Would you get up and walk out on me?” Is Billy expressing a fear or a hope?
24. “And Your Bird Can Sing,” Revolver (1966) The Daily Mail’s Richard Simpson alleged that John Lennon wrote “And Your Bird Can Sing” as affirmation of Mick Jagger’s claim that his girlfriend (in Brit-speak, bird), pop singer Marianne Faithfull, could really sing.
23. “Helter Skelter,” The White Album (1968) Yeah, so Paul McCartney pretty much invented heavy metal in one song. All in a day’s work… even if you end up with blisters on your fingers and inspire the mantra of the Manson Family.
22. “Let It Be,” Let It Be (1970) It’s one of the age-old questions of rock history: why does “Let It Be” work so beautifully while “The Long and Winding Road” falls flat? The simple answer is that the former was produced by Beatles studio god George Martin, the latter by Phil Spector. The real reason is that McCartney kept his cloying sentiment in check on one and gave it free rein on the other.
21. “Across the Universe,” Let It Be (1970) John Lennon’s love of vocal reverb was at its full flower on “Across the Universe,” which pretty much stands as a solo track. Sweet without being saccharine, it’s the ultimate expression of his cosmic musings.
NEXT: 20-11, the most joyful handclaps you’ll ever hear. Plus, John Lennon misreads Lewis Carroll.
20. “Please Mister Postman,” With the Beatles (1963) Okay, the handclaps on “I Want To Hold Your Hand” are great, but nothing — absolutely nothing — will prepare you for the pure joy that emanates from the handclaps that open this Motown cover. Originally written for girl group The Marvelettes, the Beatles reversed the gender of the song’s pronouns and showed that guys can be every bit as romantic as their girlfriends… when they want to be.
19. “I Want You (She’s So Heavy),” Abbey Road (1969) Embrace the heaviosity. At seven minutes, forty-seven seconds the second-longest Beatles recording ever after the experimental “Revolution 9,” “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” shows that when they recognized a really thumping, infectious groove, they could put all of their lyrical ambitions aside and just live for the beat. The whole song is pretty much just the lyric “I want you / I want you so bad” repeated ad infinitum, but with George’s fuzzy electric guitar, Paul’s slithering bass and John playing a Moog synthesizer, this blues explosion makes us anything but.
18. “Taxman,” Revolver (1966) George Harrison did not appreciate paying the exorbitant taxes to Her Majesty that Brits of his mega-wealthy bracket had to pony up in the ‘60s. Hence this blistering screed. Always remember, those of you who’ve died, declare the pennies on your eyes.
17. “Fixing a Hole,” Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) Of course we love “When I’m 64,” but when it comes to “northern songs,” the kind of ditties you’d hear in a Liverpool pub, nothing beats “Fixing a Hole.”
16. “Something,” Abbey Road (1969) George Harrison wrote of sex and spirituality in the same breath like no other. But with “Something,” he went even deeper. Frank Sinatra called it “the best love song in 30 years,” though when he’d cover it during his own concerts he credited it to Lennon &amp; McCartney, until a fan finally corrected him.
15. “Back in the USSR,” The White Album (1968) Simultaneously a tribute to The Beach Boys and Chuck Berry (who influenced The Beach Boys and also, profoundly, The Beatles) McCartney’s opening cut on The White Album is pure rock &amp; roll, culminating in a russkie version of “California Girls” in the immortal lyrics “Well, the Ukraine girls really knock me out / They leave the West behind / And Moscow girls make me sing and shout / That Georgia’s always on my my my my my my my my my mind.”
14. “I Me Mine,” Let It Be (1970) Harrison’s rant against ego also marked his most ambitious foray into the Phil Spector “Wall of Sound” style, which he’d later perfect on his first solo album, All Things Must Pass, with that immortal kiss-off to his ex-wife “What Is Life.”
13. “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite,” Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) Exhibit A for what is psychedelia. Inspired by an 1843 circus poster, Lennon created a Victorian trifle that’s one part music-hall singalong, one-part carnival barker’s pitch, all parts genius.
12. “She Loves You,” Standalone Single (1963) What was different about The Beatles? What separated them from the rock &amp; rollers who came before them? If you had to pin it down to one thing, it’d have to be energy. And nothing they ever wrote was as energetic, as full of the possibilities of being alive, as “She Loves You.”
11. “I Am the Walrus,” Magical Mystery Tour (1967) After he learned that students at his old school in Liverpool were being made to analyze his song lyrics in English classes, Lennon decided to write a song with absolutely no meaning that would totally baffle anyone who attempted to dissect it. So he turned to Lewis Carroll and the poem “The Walrus &amp; the Carpenter” from Through the Looking Glass for inspiration. However, John failed to realize that the Walrus is actually the villain of the piece when he’d emphatically state that’s who he was, a mistake he later realized. But, hey, “I Am the Carpenter” just wouldn’t have had the same effect. The sonic collage at the end is like the aural equivalent of the Sgt. Pepper’s album cover.
NEXT: 10-1, What topped our list?
10. “Yer Blues,” The White Album (1968) John Lennon wrote one of the greatest blues songs ever while in India when he was “trying to reach God and feeling suicidal.” If the blues are fundamentally about sin, guilt, and the suffering of the flesh, “Yer Blues” has all three in terrifying abundance.
9. “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) Mixing radio-drama sound effects, symphonic instrumentation, blaring fanfare, and hard-rock vocals, the opening track is just the prologue to the greatest concert that never happened by a band that never existed.
8. “This Boy,” Standalone Single (1963) The B-Side to “I Want To Hold Your Hand” is so endearing because of how deliberately it wasn’t trying to break with the past. Lennon said he was trying to write a song in the style of Smokey Robinson with “This Boy,” but it really goes back even further, to ‘50s doo-wop like The Five Satins’ “In the Still of the Night.”
7. “All My Loving,” With the Beatles (1963) Producer George Martin’s classical training really shines through on the Dorian-scaled “All My Loving,” a song that in its symmetrical rises and falls has almost a mathematical perfection. No wonder he actually did give it the symphonic treatment by having a full orchestra play “All My Loving” for the Magical Mystery Tour movie.
6. “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds,” Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) The imagery of Lennon’s lyrics alone are wondrous: tangerine trees, marmalade skies, plasticine porters, looking-glass ties, kaleidoscope eyes. It’s like The Twilight Zone gone Technicolor. Never mind the technical wonders of the electric piano, the fuzzed-out bass, the reverb effect on Lennon’s voice. Its images are indelible, its sounds even more so, and yet “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” isn’t just a trip of sight and sound but also of mind.
5. “A Day In the Life,” Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) What can be said about “A Day In the Life” that hasn’t already been said? Nothing. Maybe “Nothing” is the only appropriate response. Its literary ambition, technical innovations, and narrative arc are practically more than the mind can fathom. And that final chord, achieved by three grand pianos being played at once? Well, if Bruce Springsteen thought the opening of Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone” was “the snare-shot that kicked open the door to your mind,” as far as we’re concerned the final chord of “A Day in the Life” blows that door right off its hinges.
4. “All You Need Is Love,” Magical Mystery Tour (1967) The Summer of Love came to a whalloping close with the release of “All You Need Is Love” as a standalone single just a couple months after the release of Sgt. Pepper’s. It utilizes a similar sonic collage technique to that at the end of “I Am the Walrus,” recorded around the same time, but goes further, mixing in fragments of “Greensleaves” and even “She Loves You.” It’s arguably the most optimistic song ever recorded...
3. “Eight Days a Week,” Beatles for Sale (1964) …Except for maybe “Eight Days a Week,” Lennon’s earlier articulation of the “All You Need Is Love” theme. This song slowly fades in and it’s like it’s already been playing in your mind even before you’ve started to listen to it for real. And when it fades out, it’s like it dissolves into your brain, never to be rooted out.
2. “And I Love Her,” A Hard Day’s Night (1964) The finest hour (or, rather, three minutes) of Paul McCartney’s storied career is as cool as an island breeze. Ringo’s on bongos and George adds a little broken-chord guitar punctuation. It's one of the most beautiful things ever created by humans.
1. “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” The White Album (1968) It’s with a twinge of guilt that George Harrison’s guitar classic tops our list. That’s because the Fab Four became the Fab Five on “While Our Guitar Gently Weeps,” with the addition of Eric Clapton, one of a handful of people on the planet who could actually match Harrison’s ax skills, to add a little more six-string spice. Clapton worked his magic, delivering a guitar solo of a virtuosity unseen elsewhere in the Beatles’ oeuvre, then stole Harrison’s wife. It’s not the behind-the-scenes heartbreak that causes anyone to weep, though, when listening to this song: it’s the startling, transcendental beauty of it, with its intricate double-tracked harmonies and the koen-like simplicity of its lyrics. Its beauty is so great, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” makes you aware of your own mortality while you’re listening to it: the realization that there is only a finite number of days you will spend on this orb, a finite number of people you will love, a finite number of times you can listen to “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” But it sure is sweet while it lasts.
Follow Christian Blauvelt on Twitter @Ctblauvelt
[Photo Credit: ITV/Rex/Rex USA, AP Photo, Everett Collection, David Magnus/Rex USA, Daily Sketch/Rex USA]
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Last season on The Bachelor... "hunk" Ben Flajnik proposed to the girl America loved to hate, Courtney Robertson, and audiences responded by simply tuning out. But jump to 2013, where Bachelor Sean Lowe wowed fans with his heartfelt, "genuine" (Chris Harrison said it approximately 3.5 million times in one hour of television so it must be true) proposal to Catherine Giudici on the ABC reality staple, and the fans were out in droves, ready to fall in love with the happy couple.
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The three-hour finale special saw a 15 percent jump from last year's ratings, which saw a modest seven percent increase from the 2011. While we could chalk up the increase to a lack of competition from last year's ratings hog, NBC's The Voice, we're going to choose to find a silver lining in all of this: maybe America, like Sean "Shirt Allergy" Lowe, really is open to finding love, too.
In fact, 10 million people (and a higher 10.1 million during the last, live hour) were open to falling in love with two people on a journey to find their soulmates on television for the right reasons (okay, I'm all out of Bachelor cliches).
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Perhaps this will bode well for Dancing With the Stars, which premieres in The Bachelor's Monday timeslot on March 18, with Lowe ready to shake his bon-bon (and yes, take off his shirt) in an attempt to win America's heart as well.
Follow Kelsea on Twitter @KelseaStahler
[Photo Credit: ABC]
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